Chamber and committees

As detailed in the Perinatal Mental Health Network’s report, As detailed in the Perinatal Mental Health Network’s report, Delivering Effective Services: Needs Assessment and Service Recommendations for Specialist and Universal Perinatal Mental Health Services , there are three NHS Boards that have appointed specialist midwives in perinatal mental health. They are: NHS Grampian, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Tayside.

It is critical that pregnant women have access to perinatal mental health services when they need them and these can be provided by a range of mental health specialist practitioners. Through the 2019/20 Delivery Plan the Scottish Government is working with the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Managed Clinical Network to explore and set out specialist roles within the universal workforce including midwifery. The Scottish Government is also working with NES to improve knowledge and skills in perinatal mental health across the wider workforce. This will be aligned to the Perinatal Mental Health Curricular Framework which was updated in February 2019. In addition, the planned work to develop a career framework for midwives as part of the ongoing Transforming Roles programme, will ensure that there are clear structures and levels against which to develop future roles.

Perinatal and Infant Mental Health is a key commitment for the Scottish Government, which is supported by £50 million of investment in perinatal and infant mental health services over the next 4 years.

Information on maternity units that have access to a perinatal mental health midwife is not held centrally. Perinatal Mental Health and Specialist Mental Health are not terms which are recorded by the Scottish Workforce Information Standard System. Information on Nursing and Midwifery (Qualified and Support) staff with a focus on Mental Health can be found in the Nursing and Midwifery Dashboard - https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2019-09-03/Nursing-and-Midwifery.asp . For more specific queries the member would need to contact individual health boards.

Scoping for an options appraisal has been commissioned and is currently being undertaken by NHS National Services Scotland. This is due to be reported on by December 2019.

Mental health assessment, support and treatment is carried out in prisons by a range of different disciplines. This is provided for the full range of mental health disorders, including people with bipolar disorder. Responsibility for delivering prisoner healthcare rests with Integration Authorities and NHS Boards.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

Virtual family visits are provided by Apex Scotland, located in Aberdeen City, facilitating virtual family visits to those in our care at HMP Perth, HMP & YOI Grampian, HMP Barlinnie, and HMP & YOI Polmont. This service is currently funded by the SPS.

The provision of virtual family visits is also currently being provided as part of a pilot undertaken within the HMP Inverness Visitors Centre. This pilot has been in place since January 2019 and provides virtual family visits links to all Scottish prisons.

In September 2019, SPS agreed to continue this pilot and to scope a potential extension of the service to the islands. Discussions are currently ongoing with Shetland Islands Council regarding a possible Partnership.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

In June 2019 the Cabinet Secretary for Justice announced to Parliament that the Scottish Prison Service would explore options for implementing a pilot of in-cell phones at HMP & YOI Polmont.

I can confirm that SPS has made progress on this commitment and has identified the most expedient solution for implementation, which will be an extension of the current PIN phone system into cells. We aim to tender for this project by the end of the year.

The project timescales are uncertain at the moment but I am optimistic that the pilot will be operational over the summer of 2020.

There are 75 Paramedic Response Units (PRUs) working with the Scottish Ambulance Service; of which 66 are cars, 3 motorcycles and 6 Specialist Paramedic vehicles.

Emergency Detention Certificates, as set out in the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, are only permitted for use in the community or where a patient is already in a hospital setting, therefore no prisoners have been subject to them.

The Scottish Government accepted all of the recommendations in the Delivering Effective Services: Needs Assessment and Service Recommendations for Specialist and Universal Perinatal Mental Health Services report .

We have set up the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board to progress the recommendations and oversee the £50 million investment in this area. The Programme Board recently published its Delivery Plan for 2019/20 , which sets out our next steps towards meeting the recommendations. The Programme Board will issue a further Delivery Plan early next year.

The Scottish Government have committed to providing £225,000 to third sector organisations for financial year 2019-20. There will be a further allocation to the third sector from 2020-23. The amount will be announced in due course following consideration of further advice from the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board.